The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1787Quotes
To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.
—Quintus Fabius Maximus, c. 203 BCA government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1944There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.
—Anthony Trollope, 1862Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.
—E.B. White, 1944You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCThe more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
—Tacitus, c. 117Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.
—Alexander Hamilton, 1787Envy is the basis of democracy.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.
—Anthony Burgess, 1972O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCTelevision has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.
—Shimon Peres, 1995A real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.
—David Foster Wallace, 2000